Tottenham Hotspur have scouted Marcus Thuram ahead of the January transfer window and journalist Dean Jones believes he could add a lot to Antonio Conte’s squad…
What’s the word?
It’s believed that the north Londoners have been keeping an eye on the Frenchman’s situation at Borussia Monchengladbach as his current £53.8k-per-week contract is set to expire in the summer.
They are likely, however, to face stiff competition from arch-rivals Arsenal and some reports have suggested that the Bundesliga side are willing to sell him for as little as €10m (£8.7m) because they risk losing him for free otherwise.
“Yeah, definitely they could both [Thuram and Youssoufa Moukoko] add to what they’ve got. They both make sense in different ways from things I’ve heard about how they intend to move the squad on,” he told GIVEMESPORT.
Bargain of January
If Antonio Conte and Fabio Paratici still want to bolster the frontline with further reinforcements, having signed Dejan Kulusevski and Richarlison in recent windows, then they should look no further than Thuram, who could be the bargain of the window.
For a fraction of the £60m they paid Everton for the Brazil no.9 in the summer, they could get a similar profile of player as the France international is also capable of playing anywhere along the frontline and has proven his ability over the last 12 to 18 months.
This campaign alone, Thuram has delivered 13 goals and four assists, including strikes against both Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund. Such versatility has seen him earn comparisons to a fellow native by a manager that knew him better than anyone.
“Thierry Henry had the timing of the smartest footballers. He was also very strong physically, and technically he could do everything,” former Gunners boss Arsene Wenger told Der Spiegel back in 2020. “In fact, there’s a player in the Bundesliga who reminds me of him – Marcus Thuram from Borussia Monchengladbach.”
The Gladbach star is just as much a creative presence and threat as he is a goalscorer, having averaged 1.73 successful dribbles and 3.09 shot-creating actions per 90 over the last year, feats that see him rank within the top 8% and 22% of his positional peers across Europe, via FBref.
With the prospect of the Champions League knockout stages, the race for a top-four finish in the Premier League and multiple domestic cups after the World Cup break, it would make sense for Conte to want further bodies available and that makes Thuram a rather intriguing option.
The attacker, who Saudi Arabia boss Herve Renard once dubbed a “physical monster”, could well be the biggest bargain of the January window for whoever decides to pull the trigger.
For Spurs, it would be wise if Paratici did just that as he won’t be taking a big chunk out of the war chest and could bolster Conte’s playing. squad with additions elsewhere too.
AND in other news, Conte may be about to ditch £100k-p/w Spurs “legend” for “mad” £18m-rated “liability”…
